This is EASY

I've been incredibly spoiled this week. Getting to experience something completely new.

Every morning this week, I have only had ONE child to take care of. One three-year-old, independent and sweet child. So, I've actually been able to get things done around here, without having to stop to referee or check up on how things are going or worry that someone is going to use the baby as a baseball.

Monkey is at VBS and Cub has been sleeping from the time we get home from dropping off Monkey until it is time to go get him...2 1/2 glorious hours. Which just leaves Cub, who has always been the sweetest and easiest child.

I've never really gotten to experience this before. Even for that short period of time when I only had one child...but Monkey was just shy of 17 months when Bear was born. So, he was hardly independent and I was pregnant from the time Monkey was 8 months old, so I had a baby to contend with and growing one in those rare moments when Monkey actually slept. And, by the time that Bear started getting more independent, I was pregnant yet again and then Cub was born. Cub, whom I could hardly leave alone with his big brothers, not as a tiny baby.

We wanted our kids close together in age, but that meant that I never had just one child around who could play alone and be fine...or even just one child who could play alone and a baby. Just a succession of babies/toddlers who need their mama and essentially suck me dry of any energy I might possess by about noon every day...if I'm lucky to even make it that far into the day.

So, it was an eye-opening experience to just have a 3-year-old around this week. Is this what other people have all the time? Just one child to worry about? Or those who wait until their child is at least this age before they start adding to their family...they might not feel like they are being pulled in a million different directions and have panic attacks just trying to figure out how to get 2(or 3) kids safely across a parking lot since none of the kids can walk or at least can't walk without a death grip on their little hands.

It seems like an easy life, just having one. I know my friends who only have one child would beg to differ that it is NEVER easy to be a parent, whether you have an only or are the Duggars and have 18 kids. And they would be right, "easy" probably isn't the word...but easiER seems fair.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about having my kids so close together in age- it's what we wanted. And they are growing up so fast; it won't be long before they are all independent. But, that won't stop me from fully enjoying our schedule this week and wishing that it could last longer than just a week.

Waaaaaaaay Too Early

This is what I get for being cocky. I was reading this post over at Baby Bunching: and thinking how lucky I was that I no longer had any early risers.

7am was the normal waking time around here. While that is still earlier than I would choose, it still seems more like morning than the middle of the night.

I was remembering when Monkey was a baby(and still an only child) and he insisted on waking up every morning at 5am or even a little before that. He was always WIDE awake and demanding breakfast. I would feed him and then try to get him to play while I was still completely out of it and counting down the hours until he was ready for a nap. Thankfully, that would happen around 8am and I would go back to sleep, too.

Those days were so hard. I felt like a zombie and I never did know when to get out of my pjs and actually get dressed. Usually not until after that first morning nap, but sometimes not even then, since I'd wait until his second nap of the day to take a shower.

Bear was a much kinder sleeper(kinder to me). He too would wake up at 5am most days, but after a nursing, he would drift off again for another two hours. Cub followed this pattern for quite a while, too.

But, now, Cub is up every morning sometime between 5:30 and 6am. That still feels like nighttime. Something about 7am makes it seem like the day has started, but 6 or earlier...that's still time for sleep.

Because of this, he's now ready for a nap by about 9 or 9:30. And this time, there is NO napping for Mommy. There are two other kiddos running around and things to do. Sometimes he'll take an afternoon nap, too, but again, no napping for Mommy. Monkey doesn't nap and Bear only occasionally crashes on the couch or wherever he happens to be when he runs out of steam. And, since the two big boys share a room, it doesn't work to send them there and make them have "quiet time" or "rest time."

My kiddos do go to bed early- starting at 6:30pm, with the last of them down by 7:30. It doesn't make a difference what time they go to sleep, though, they all still follow their same wake-up patterns...so, I figure they might as well go to bed early and at least wake up rested. It's bad enough to have children up at the crack of dawn, the last thing I want is CRABBY children who are up at the crack of dawn.

I'm hoping that this is just some sort of phase. Teething or something, I don't know. And then we can go back to the much more civilized time of 7am to wake up.